Step By Step
by Living-Loving-Laughing14
Summary: My take on the classic: "What if Percy became a god?" Please R&R! Flames will be used to bake cookies for my reviewers!
1. Chapter 1

**Heyy! I'm baaaack! I accidentally posted Chapter 2 first... Aaah well. Luv ya lots!**

-Line Break-

**Annabeth POV (Third Person) **

"Do you, Perseus Jackson accept our offer to become your father's immortal lieutenant?" Zeus thundered. **(A/N: That will never get old. Deal with it peeps.) **

Annabeth stands frozen in her spot, waiting for Percy to choose. She realizes that this is essentially a choice between her and some other goddess.

She is unsure whether he would choose her. She bites her lip in anticipation.

"I a-accept." Percy stammers, unable to look Annabeth in the eyes and see the marks of betrayal and hurt.

Zeus stands and places his hand on Percy's forehead. He mutters an Ancient Greek incantation.

"Με την εξουσία που μέσα μου, μπορώ να σας την παρούσα Περσέα Τζάκσον ένας αθάνατος θεός. Ο θεός του Shore & Παλίρροιες."

Annabeth could have been sucker-punched in the gut, run-over by a train, boiled in a pit of acid and nothing would have hurt her as much as that had.

She blinks back tears and looks at her mother. Athena won't look at her, but her expression clearly says: _He's a son of Poseidon. I tried to warn you. _

Only now Annabeth realises that she's right. She dashes out of the throne room and Percy just lets her go.

She runs over to the elevator and repeatedly presses the down button. She bursts out of the double doors and sprints away.

Annabeth darts over to a sleeping guy on a motorbike and pushes him off.

She revs the engine and speeds off.

Where, she doesn't know.

All Annabeth wants is to be away from the source of hurt and betrayal.

She jumps off the bike and flat-out sprints towards her cabin.

Annabeth throws herself down onto a bunk and cries.

She lies there, sobs wracking her body.

_**-Line Break- **_

Time passes. Annabeth doesn't know how much. Hour, minutes, none of it matters anymore.

All she knows is that she will probably never love again. He will always be there haunting her dreams, just out of her reach.

Annabeth is shaken from her thoughts by the opening of the door.

"Micky?" she whispers hoarsely. "How could he?"

The brunette daughter of Athena just sits down beside her and puts her arm around Annabeth's shoulders.

"First Luke, then Thalia and now _Percy!_" Annabeth whimpers.

"I know." Her voice was sympathetic.

"What – what happened after I left?" She wonders aloud.

"Everything was pretty awkward after that "Micky says. "Athena threw a hissy fit at Poseidon," she grins at me, trying to lighten the mood.

Annabeth smiles half heartedly, wiping away her tears.

"He wasn't good enough for you." Micky reassures her.

Annabeth nods and runs out to the canoe lake. The lake is the one place that she can think. She kicks off her converse and sinks her toes into the powder –fine white sand.

She lies down basking in the sunlight. Annabeth lets out a sigh. How could everything have gone so wrong?

She closes her eyes and slips off the cliff of sleep she's dangling on.

**-Line Break – (Six months later) **

The canoe lake is a place that Annabeth visits regularly now. It, strangely, is the only place that heals her.

She can't help but feel that she's being a little melodramatic about this. It was only her first break-up.

Annabeth breaks into a jog at the first sign that she's near the lake. She yanks her t-shirt off and fiddles with the strap of her swimsuit.

She wades in slowly and cautiously, shuddering at the coldness. Annabeth hadn't been swimming since the Titan War.

She was afraid that it would bring back unbearable memories of... _him. _

Annabeth couldn't even bring herself to think his name. After all, he was the only one she'd ever actually loved as more than a friend or brother.

She though he was in love with her too.

_It turns out I was wrong, _Annabeth thinks to herself.

She closes her eyes blissfully, as she is now submerged by the cool water.

Everywhere she turns; there are memories of her and him, together again. Now she doesn't know where to go.

Annabeth has never understood the importance of love. She had never understood what it felt like when someone she loved was taken away.

And Annabeth has never really known the unendurable agony of someone _choosing _to leave her.

Now she does. Annabeth thinks back to the time when two campers and three Hunters went to go save Artemis and she had considered joining the Hunters.

She clearly remembers the look on Percy's face when he had thought she was going to join.

She briefly wonders what her face might have looked like.

Annabeth knows that she it's not fair to direct all of her anger onto Percy. She couldn't make him stay.

She thinks; _if Aphrodite was so keen on me and him, why didn't she- _

Annabeth sighs because she's doing it again. She's blaming everyone else for her mistakes.

She needs to face facts and own up to her wrongdoings.

Annabeth thinks over her options, because she is a child of Athena , and that's what children of Athena like to do. Think things over.

Lately, Annabeth realises, she hasn't really been acting like an Athena child. She's been acting like an Aphrodite child who didn't get what they wanted.

But what does she want? Annabeth questions her desires.

To be truthful, all Annabeth wants is to be happy. And hanging onto memories of Percy isn't going to help her on her quest for happiness.

She realises that she's shivering and swims back to shore. She wraps the towel around her body, and it acts as a thin shield against the cold.

**-Line Break- **

Meandering back to the cabin, she goes over all the happy memories that she's shared with him.

Annabeth pulls her jeans on and a camp shirt on and half-heartedly leads her cabin to dinner.

Micky sits down beside her. Micky is the only person that will now put up with Annabeth's anti-social behaviour.

Callie Morgan, an annoyingly bossy Athena camper stops by and says to Annabeth "Come on Annabeth! You've been moping around about that _guy_ for _months _now! It's not like a true daughter of Athena would even _bother _getting emotionally involved with _Sea Spawn's _kid. "She accompanies that last statement with a smirk.

"I mean really, cry me a river, build me a bridge and get the hell over it already!" Callie saunters back to her spot.

"Gods Callie! Just shut up and leave Annabeth alone." Priscilla of the Hecate cabin turns around and puts her hands on her hips.

Meanwhile Annabeth is still enraged at Callie's previous remark.

"Not a true daughter of Athena." Annabeth mutters under her breath and storms out.

The old Annabeth would have come right out and challenged Callie to a battle. But the new Annabeth doesn't care anymore.

_See what you've done! _ She internally screams at Percy.

_See what you've done to me!? _

She sinks down to the ground and buries her head in her hands. All she wants is to be happy. She knows she has to let go, but she doesn't _want _to.

_What do I really want? _She questions herself, even though she already knows the answer.

_I want to be happy with him. _Annabeth admits to herself.

_Say his name. _Annabeth's inner self challenges her.

"_Fine! _I want to be happy with Percy!" She cries at the heavens. She hopes he's listening.

**-Line Break- **

**Percy POV**

"_Fine! _I want to be happy with Percy!" He sees Annabeth yell.

Percy now knows that he can't keep this up. He needs to see her again, to see if the mistakes he made can now be fixed.

He drafts out a letter saying:

_Annabeth, _

_Meet me at the canoe lake at dinner time. We need to talk. _

_Percy_

Percy watches the letter float away and land in the Athena Cabin.

**-Line Break- **

_**Annabeth POV**_

She can see him from a distance, playing with the tiny grains of sand.

Suddenly Annabeth feels... nervous. She doesn't know whether she should go or not.

But her inner self tells her that this may be her last chance at happiness.

Annabeth dashes across the sand, willing to take that last chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey dudes! It's MooseRex010900 here! This is just a little Percabeth fluff for ya! **

_**IMPORTANT: READ CHAPTER ONE BERFORE THIS ONE! OKAY! **_

**The Rundown: Percy has accepted the offer to become a God. **

_**Percy Third Person POV**_

Percy stares at the pale white sand at his feet. He knows he's not technically supposed to be here at this late hour but he doesn't care. He just needs to see _her_. Once more.

Percy runs his fingers through the tiny grains of sand wishing desperately that Annabeth would receive his written plea.

He hears footfalls approaching him and a grey-eyed blonde beauty sits down beside him. _How_, he thinks, _does she not realise how beautiful she is? _

"You wanted to talk to me, Lord Perseus?" Her quiet voice breaks him out of his daze.

"Annabeth, I just –"Percy sighs and starts over.

"I'm sorry. I hurt you and I'm sorry." He says while meeting her steady gaze with an apologetic look etched on his face.

"What's been said has been said, and what has been done has been done. There's no point wasting time over it anymore. You've made your decision and I've made mine. " She states quite calmly, revealing nothing of the emotions swirling chaotically within.

Annabeth won't meet his gaze, but instead looks out upon the planes of the blue canoe lake. That's how he knows of the turmoil raging inside.

"What made you want to... you know... become a god?" Her soft voice carves through the stone-cold silence and makes him question a lot of his decisions.

"I'm not sure. I just thought that well..." Percy trails off into silence, not quite knowing how to finish the sentence.

"I thought that maybe I would be more useful as a god." He finally blurts out while studying Annabeth carefully for any sign of emotion.

She visibly relaxes and her tone becomes slightly warmer towards him. "You sure it wasn't because of Aphrodite? She is very pretty." Annabeth questions him, trying to appear nonchalant but Percy knows his Wise Girl too well.

_She's not yours anymore. _A small voice in Percy's head chastises him.

"Absolutely positive." He replies with a small smile. Percy realises that maybe, just maybe that they can rebuild that relationship that they had prior to his big mistake.

Annabeth moves closer to him so that their arms are touching. Percy's smile broadens by a fraction.

He misses the crazy sensation of adrenaline that, whenever she touches him, sears through his veins.

She lays her head on his shoulder and he relishes the smell of her lemon-scented hair, and the slight movements her soft breathing makes.

And for a second, they're just Percy and Annabeth hanging out by the lake. She curls up into him and she starts to relax.

"Percy," She mumbles into his chest "I really missed you." Her shoulders start shaking and he realises that Annabeth is holding back tears

"I thought I'd lost you forever." She whispers. "Could we..." she pauses, thinking about what she's going to say next. "Could we start over? Step by step?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He smiles into her long blonde hair.

"Thank-you" She whispered into his chest before losing consciousness.

Percy scoops her up bridal style and carries her back to her cabin. He walks slowly trying to savour the moment.

He looks at her peaceful face, with all the worries erased.

He pushes open the door to the Athena cabin. The fifteen year-old brunette lying slumped over her desk jolts awake at the sound of the door open.

Her stern grey eyes meet his and her eyes flash with recognition.

She says quietly "She died after you left her." **(A/N: I mean metaphorically not literally. Kay?) **

That statement is accompanied by a stare that seems to be saying _"treat her well, or else."_

Percy nods knowing that she'll hold him to that promise.

"Did she really?" he asks, not sure if he really wants to know the answer.

The brunette nods, biting her lip. "She was never the same."

Percy slowly puts her down onto her bunk, so Annabeth doesn't wake up.

She clings onto his shirt subconsciously, not wanting to let him go again. He gently pries her fingers off, one by one.

She breathes "I love you" into his ear.

"Love you too, Wise Girl." Percy softly presses his lips to her forehead.

The brunette watches and finally says "Don't break her heart again," before turning back to her blue-prints.

Percy nods and he gives Annabeth one last wistful look before vanishing and leaving a cool ocean spray behind.

**-Line Break- **

_**Annabeth Third Person POV**_

Annabeth misses his warm touch as soon as he's left. She hadn't known until now how much she needed him.

She remembers feeling hurt, broken and betrayed when he accepted that offer.

But now... all Annabeth can feel is contentment.

He loves her. _He loves her. _

That's all she can think about. Those very words have seemed to heal the wounds he had made in her heart.

She climbs out of her bunk and quietly pads over to the organised desk sitting on the side of the cabin.

She notices a set of blueprints lying out.

_Micky, _Annabeth thinks.

She makes a mental reminder to tell Micky to stop staying up so late.

As she sifts through the blueprints, trying to sort out the finished ones from the unfinished ones, she comes across a letter with _Wise Girl _written on it.

Absentmindedly running her finger across the edge of the thick ocean-scented envelope, she wonders if Percy's thinking about her too.

Annabeth slides the letter open and a card falls out. She scoops it up and it reads in his handwriting:

_Step by step _

She sits down in the chair while thinking the same words over and over.

_He loves her. _

_He loves her. _

And she now knows that she loves him back.

**So! How'd I do? Good? Alright? Okayish? Bad? Please review and tell me! **

**Thank-you all so much for reviewing my other stories! **

**Luv ya lots! **

**~ MooseRex010900**


End file.
